Overrides Governor's line-item veto
eliminating appropriation for and budget language allocation of Municipal
Public Safety Aid in the Department of Community Affairs.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

As introduced.

A Concurrent
Resolutionoverriding a
line-item veto eliminating an appropriation for and budget language allocation
of Municipal Public Safety Aid in the Department of Community Affairs.

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General
Assembly concurring):

1. That the following
line-item of appropriation, on page 42, and the related language provision on
page 46, of Senate Bill No. 4000 of 2011 (P.L.2011, c.85) which were the subject
of objections by the Governor in the Governor's veto statement of June 30,
2011, be restored to law as follows, the objections thereto of the Governor
notwithstanding:

22 DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

70 Government Direction, Management, and
Control

75 State Subsidies and Financial Aid

STATE
AID

04-8030 Local Government
Services ...................................... $50,000,000

(From Property
Tax Relief Fund …. $50,000,000 )

State Aid:

04 Municipal
Public Safety Aid (PTRF) .. ($50,000,000)

The
amount hereinabove appropriated for Public Safety Municipal Aid shall be
allocated and distributed on or before September 1, 2011 among municipalities that do not receive
State police protection for inhabitants of rural sections pursuant to
R.S.53:2-1, according to the following calculations that shall be made by the
Commissioner of Community Affairs. An eligible municipality shall receive $18
per capita if it qualifies under each of the four following criteria and $10.50
per capita if it qualifies under any three of the following criteria: (a) a
violent crime rate per 1,000 population for 2009 equal to or greater than 110%
of the average of violent crime rates per 1,000 population for all
municipalities for 2009 according to the Uniform Crime Report published by the Division
of State Police; (b) a nonviolent crime rate per 1,000 population for 2009
equal to or greater than 110% of the average of nonviolent crime rates per
1,000 population for all municipalities for 2009 according to the Uniform Crime
Report published by the Division of State Police; (c) an equalized municipal
purposes tax rate for 2010, calculated as the amount to be raised by taxes for
the municipal budget as reported in column 12Ciia and plus the amount to be
raised by taxation for the municipal open space budget as reported in column
12Ciib, divided by the net valuation for county tax apportionment as reported
in column 11 of 2010 county abstracts of ratables equal to or greater than 110%
of the average of the equalized municipal purposes tax rates in all
municipalities for 2010; and (d) an average residential property value for 2010
equal to or below 90% of the average of residential property values for all
municipalities for 2010. An eligible municipality’s population shall be
determined using data from the 2010 federal decennial census. If the amount of
aid so calculated for each eligible municipality totals to an amount greater
than $50,000,000 each eligible municipality’s amount shall be reduced
proportionally such that the total amount distributed equals $50,000,000. Any
distribution of Public Safety Municipal Aid received by an eligible
municipality pursuant to this provision shall not affect the eligible
municipality’s qualification, calculation and receipt of any other aid,
including but not limited to Transitional Aid to Localities. Municipalities
shall appropriate Public Safety Municipal Aid for public safety, homeland
security, and other purposes which promote safe and secure conditions within
the municipality.

2. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that copies of this resolution be delivered to the Governor, the State
Treasurer and the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs.

STATEMENT

This resolution restores the
amount of an item of appropriation and a related language provision in the
annual appropriations act for Fiscal Year 2012 that were eliminated by the
Governor's line-item veto. The State Aid line-item appropriation of $50,000,000
for Public Safety Municipal
Aid in the Department of Community Affairs provides formula-based aid to
municipalities that do not receive rural State Police patrol coverage and are
in dire need of assistance for public safety,
homeland security, and other purposes which promote safe and secure conditions
for their residents and commerce. MunicipalState aid reductions have left many municipalities with
no choice but to layoff police officers. Public safety in many municipalities
is suffering as a result; particularly resulting in increased numbers of
violent crimes. This funding would allow municipalities with high crime rates
to augment their public safety budgets.